Newspapers

The Social History Archive provides access to a continuously expanding collection of British, Irish, and former Empire newspapers, with new titles added every week. 

Our holdings currently include more than 2,600 newspaper titles, comprising 7 million issues and 89 million pages published between 1699 and 2009. Together, they cover the four corners of the British Isles and beyond, through small local weeklies, regional papers, high-profile national titles and overseas journals.

DC Thomson, the owners of The Social History Archive, are the British Library’s digital publishing partners and have been developing the highly-regarded British Newspaper Archive for over a decade. Through our partnership with the British Library, which houses the world’s largest collection of English-language newspapers, and other key newspaper publishers, The Social History Archive is pleased to make this collection of historical newspapers available for use in higher education.

These newspapers cover an extraordinary range of subjects, from local and regional reports to political debates, cultural trends, international affairs, and personal notices. Their breadth makes them an indispensable resource for research across the humanities, social sciences, and beyond. Our newspapers are also an invaluable teaching tool. They allow students to engage directly with primary sources, compare perspectives across regions, and develop critical skills in historical interpretation. 

We offer a range of access models, from targeted access via our newspapers Primary Source Series collections, to more comprehensive coverage through our All Newspapers package or alongside the archive’s Records content as as part of our All Access product.

The All Newspapers product is available as an annual subscription or a perpetual access purchase, but the All Access product is subscription only.  

A full list of our newspaper holdings can be provided by contacting us below.